Cooperative Farmers Elevator (CFE), a farmer-owned cooperative servicing local farm and rural business owners in the areas of agronomy, feed, grain, energy and lumber, have announced plans to construct a new mash and pellet feed mill.

The plans come in response to the twin factors of a rapidly growing livestock industry in northwestern Iowa and increased milling capacity needs of Cooperative Farmers Elevator (CFE). Construction on the new feed mill to be located in Ocheyedan will begin next spring.

"This new mill will help us capitalize on two unique opportunities and effectively position CFE and our farmer-owners for the future," said Rob Jacobs, chief executive officer of CFE. Jacobs said the 160-foot concrete slipped mill will produce 3,000 tonnes of complete feed per day totaling 780,000 tonnes of complete feed per year to serve increasing demands from the livestock industry in northwestern Iowa.

Construction is set to begin in early spring 2017 with feed production slated to begin in late summer 2018 pending any construction delays.

Once complete, the new feed mill will employ up to 28 people in Ocheyedan, Jacobs said.
"Our board of directors sees this as a positive opportunity to continue our focus on growth and to reinvest in our cooperative for the long term benefit of our farmerowners," Jacobs said.

Growing livestock sector

The livestock market in northwest Iowa has grown rapidly in recent years. That growth has been driven in large part by processors.

The new feed mill will process up to 70,000 bushels of corn daily. This demand will provide an alternative for local producers to sell their grain back to the farmer-owned cooperative instead of selling to other sources outside of the area.

"The expansion will not only allow CFE to keep pace with the growth of the local livestock market, but it will also give more of our producer-owners a chance to sell their grain back to CFE, which, in turn, will increase their options and potentially their
profitability," Jacobs said. "In that sense, this is truly a win-win for CFE and our memberowners."

Adapting to new regulations

Beyond keeping pace with a growing livestock market, the new feed mill also supports CFE's commitment to compliance as this new facility will provide a ractopamine-free production process to producers who partner with local livestock producers and integrators who require ractopamine-free feed products for livestock. This process will guarantee that producers receive quality feed mixes and meet growing demand.

"We're completely committed to supporting our member-owners as our local livestock market changes," Jacobs said. "Their success is our success, and this feed mill is just one of the many ways we will continue to show our commitment to their operations'
success."